title: Serum microRNA-122 kinetics in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection during antiviral therapy.
abstract: The levels of the liver-specific microRNA-122 (miR-122) circulating extracellularly in the blood have been shown to be increased upon liver damage. However, it is unknown if the levels of serum miR-122 are altered during antiviral therapy and reflect the therapeutic success. Here, we investigated miR-122 serum levels in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection during antiviral therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Therefore, sera from 60 patients with chronic HCV infection genotype 1 showing sustained virological response (SVR), non-response or relapse to therapy obtained at baseline, 4, 12, 24 weeks, end of treatment and follow-up were analysed retrospectively for miR-122 content by quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR. The time courses of miR-122 were correlated with HCV RNA as well as standard liver parameters. We found that while there was no relation between serum miR-122 and HCV RNA levels at baseline, the decline in HCV RNA upon beginning of the therapy closely correlated with the reduction of serum miR-122 in the three different patient groups. Moreover, the serum miR-122 level correlated well with alanine aminotransaminase, a marker of ongoing liver damage. At follow-up serum miR-122 levels remained low in SVR, but increased to baseline levels in patients not responding or showing relapse to therapy. In contrast, the serum concentration of the ubiquitously expressed miR-16 did not change during therapy. We conclude that the serum level of miR-122 well reflects the success of interferon/ribavirin therapy in patients with chronic HCV infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine I, University of Frankfurt/M., Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Köberle
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Waidmann
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kronenberger
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Andrei
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Susser
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Füller
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Perner
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zeuzem
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sarrazin
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piiper
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007372:Interferons / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D044967:Serum / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D015415:Biomarkers; C531907:MIRN122 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; D012367:RNA, Viral; D012254:Ribavirin; D007372:Interferons
keywords: circulating miRNA; hepatitis C virus; interferon; miR-122; response to therapy